Brassiere



June 3, 1947. M. WITKOWER BRASSIERE Filed 001:. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l invsn-tar' JTIQX LL/i LK awe-r1" 'E71 :H it 2.45

June 3, 1947. WITKOWER BRASS IERE Filed Oct. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 max LL/j 11K awe-1" 7 Patented June 3, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE nnnssiinm :Max Witkower, Los Angel'es,?ali.

Application October 1945, SeiialfNo. 623,633

3 Olaim-s.

My present invention has to do with improvements in brassieres, having more particularly to do with brass'ieres peculiarly adapted to 'be worn by pregnant :women, 'f-or whom it is so necessary tohave garments which fit comfortably without binding the body too tightly and which may be adjusted in material'respects to suit the changing condition of the figure.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide abrassire ihaving novel breast supports and incorporating novel means 'foradjusting the supports into positions vaiicrding the most comfort.

It is also an object to provide a brassiere so constructed that the breast-supportin elements may be .worn either inside or outside the brassire garment.

.Aiurt'her object is to provide a brassire embodying .novel breast-supporting elements incorporating means for conveniently and yieldably holding the breasts in proper position.

A still furtherobject is the provision of a brassire wherein the breasts are supported directly from the shoulder straps-and wherein the bodyencircling member may be fully and easily adjusted to suit the changing'cond-itions of the figure.

Other more specific :objects and "advantages will appear from the following description of what is nowa preferred embodiment of the invention, although I wish it 'understood that the ensuing description is merely to be taken .as illustrative since it is not intended to restrict the broader scope of the invention, as defined by the accompanying claims, to the specific disclosure 'now'to be made.

For purposes of the following description I shall refer to the annexed drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation;

Fig.2 is a rear elevation;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing the breast-supporting members disposed entirely inside the garment;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2 but being shown in section.

Referring now to the drawings (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5) I show generally at 5 the body-encircling portion of the garment, which is comprised of fabric strips 6 each shaped to provide a breast cup I, the two strips being secured together at their inner ends by hooks and eyes 8 along a medial line 9. Each of the strips 6 has stitched to its outer end an extension strip H] to pass under the arm and around the back of the wearer, one of the extensions T0 having a tab I.I .carry ing a'hook f2 and the other extension having .an elastic tab "it provided with a row of eyes Ila to "selectively receive the hook ILZ in order that the .garment may be adjustably land resilienth secured around the body of the wearer. The extensions Ill are secured to the strips'fi by seams [5.

Each of the :strips 6 .has a vertical slit '20, each of which slits opens through the bottom edge 2i of the strip, andeach-s'trip also has .a relatively small opening 25 adjacent its bottom edge and spaced outwardly .from the slit '20 for the purposeito'be described.

The top end oieachstr'ip 6 is so disposed as to form a V having at its apex .an elastic anchor strip 31! secured thereto, each of the anchor strips having a'h'ook 3'! to engage selectively in one of a plurality of eyes 32 provided in the front end extension 32a of each of the shoulder straps 35,, the back ends of the shoulder straps being secured respectively to the respective extensions (I'll.

Apair of crescent-shaped members Ml, 4| provide breast-supporting members and will now 'be described. Member 411 has its lower-end stitched at "45 .to the inner surface of the left (as viewed in Figvli) strip 15 and, in one of .its positions of Wear (Figs. 1 and 2) extends through the slit 2.8 to the outside of the strip 15 :and thence curves upwardly and-outwardly, having its top end provided with an eye 'A'ila toengage a fastening member Mlb carried by the front end extension 33a of the shoulder strap, the latter end extension of the shoulder strap passing inwardly through a hole It provided in each strip 6 adjacent its apex. The breast-supporting member 4| is mounted and constructed in the same manner except that it is carried by the other strip 6 and is disposed oppositely to member 40. The adjacent edges of the members 40- are resiliently secured together by means of elastic webs 41.

At each of the slits 20, the portion of the strip defining the inner wall of the slit has secured to it an elastic tab 50 carrying at its outer end a hook 5| to selectively engage in either of a plurality of eyes 52 carried by a strip 53 secured to the outer surface of the strip 6.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the garment is fully adjustable in all material respects so that the wearer may adapt it to her changing figure and the breasts are supported entirely from the shoulder straps instead of from the bodyencircling portion of the garment. That is, the breast-supporting members are anchored at their top ends directly to the shoulder straps and may be adjusted. It is therefore unnecessary to tightly constrict the body-encircling portion about the wearer. The degree of tightness of the fit of the body-encirclin portion of the garment about the body may be adjusted by means of the anchor strips 59 whose carried hooks 5i selectively engage in eyes 52 provided in strips 53 secured to the garment at one side of the respective slits 20, and the slit 29 are prevented from flaring open since, to each strip, at one side of the slit, an end of one of the breast-supporting members is secured and to the strip at the other side of the slit an end of the anchor strip 50 is secured. As best shown in Fig. 2, so that the slits 20 are held closed without bulging, the permanently anchored end of each anchor strip 59 is secured to a somewhat triangular tap 500 whose wider end is secured to the breast-covering strip 6 at the inner side of the slit 20.

As shown in Fig. 3, ifa neater appearance is desired, the breast-supporting strips may be adjusted to be worn inside the body-encircling portion by simply unfastening the top end of the members 41 from the shoulder straps, removing the shoulder strap from the openings 36, and removing the members 40, 4| from the slits 2!], and re-anchoring them inside the garment as shown,

I claim:

1. A brassiere comprising a fabric body encircling member having breast covering portions each presenting a slit opening through its bottom edge portion and extending upwardly a substantial distance, said breast covering portions each having an opening spaced laterally outward from said slit, a first anchor strip having fastening means and secured to each breast covering portion in a region spaced laterally outward beyond said opening, and a second anchor strip secured at one end to each breast covering portion laterally inward of each slit and carrying at its other end fastening means for engaging the fastening means of the adjacent first anchor strip, said second anchor strip being adapted to extend through said opening.

2. A brassiere comprising a fabric body encircling member having breast covering portions, said breast covering portions each having a slit of substantial length extending through and upwardly from the lower edge thereof, a pair of shoulder straps secured at their respective ends to the front and back portions of the body encircling member, a pair of oppositely disposed cresent-shaped breast supporting strips each secured at its lower end portion to a breast'covering portion at the side of the slit therein farthest from the middle portion of the garment and adapted to extend through said slit, means for suspending the upper ends of the respective breast supporting strips from the respective shoulder straps, means yieldably securing together adjacent medial edge portions of the breast supporting strips, means for effecting longitudinal adjustment of the lower edge portion of the body encircling member comprising anchor strip secured respectively at the inner end to a breast covering portion at the side of the slit therein opposite to the side to which the breast supporting strips are respectively secured, an anchor member secured to the breast covering portion at the other side of the slit therein, and means for adjustably securing together the outer ends of the respective anchor strips and their respective anchor members,

3. A brassiere comprising a fabric body encircling member having breast covering portions, said portions each having a slit through the lower edge and extending upwardly a, substantial distance, a pair of shoulder straps secured at their respective ends to the front and back portions of the body encircling member, a pair of breast supporting strips each secured at its lower end portion to a breast covering portion at the side of the slit therein farthest from the middle of the garment and adapted to extend through said slit, means for suspending the upper ends of the respective breast supportin strips from the respective shoulder straps, and means for effecting longitudinal adjustment of the bottom edge portion of, the body encircling member in the region of said slits comprising an adjustable strap means bridging each slit and secured to the breast covering portions on each side of the slits, respectively, whereby the portions of the breast covering portions on each side of the slits may be drawn into overlapping relation to each other.

MAX WITKOWER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,961,048 Jacob et a1 May 29, 1934 2,100,890 Witkower Nov. 30, 1937 2,315,614 Glasser Apr, 6, 1943 2,362,974 Cohen Nov. 21, 1944 2,374,093 Gluckin Apr. 17, 1945 

